I just did my 1965 904 tranny 2 days ago. The factory manual said to back off 5.25 turns for the 904 and less (~2.5, forgot) for 727. I don't think it is super-critical and kind of hard to measure the 72 in-lb snug. The idea is to make it loose enough to release fully, similar to adjusting drum brakes. I would say if your band link fell out it was real loose or the band totally worn since I had to back it way off to get the link out in a 413 torqueflite (fwd version of 904). For some torqueflites there is an improved thicker band link plus other cheap upgrades (L/R piston that doesn't ****), so maybe google.
